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Thousands of workers swarm state capital to tell lawmakers to support workers, not corporations

More than 7,000 union members, and their supporters, gathered in front of the Legislative Building and Temple of Justice in Olympia today to tell lawmakers they’d rather see corporate tax breaks abolished than steep budget cuts to important program citizens of the state need.

They covered the steps of the two buildings, and filled in the space between. I’ve never seen that many demonstrators at the state Capitol.

The rally is the largest in weeklong demonstrations on what to do about the $5 billion budget deficit the state is facing.

State labor leaders and students spoke about the value of the work that union members provide at the state and local levels for citizens of the state.

One of the Wisconsin state senators who tried to block the state’s new law eliminating most collective bargaining rights for state workers, Sen. Spencer Coggs, also spoke. Coggs said he and 13 other state senators met before the Senate was to consider the bill to figure out what to do. They decided to bolt and bring attention to what was being proposed.

Signs at the rally read “Stop the War on Workers,” “Enough,” “Workers’ Rights Are Human Rights,” “Union Busting Is Disgusting,” “Put People First,” “Respect Working Families-Protect Workers Compensation,” “Corporations and Wall Street Are to Blame,” “Rebuild America-Green Jobs Now,” and “Corporations Are Not ‘We the People.’”

The message of the demonstrators could be summed up in two of the signs: “People Before Profit” and “Main Street Not Wall Street.”

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.